Heiress Recon. Carla Cassidy

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СКАЧАТЬ with me.” Heather dabbed her eyes with the tissue. “And I called Brandon’s office to see if he was there, if maybe this is all just a terrible mistake, but his secretary told me he didn’t show up for work this morning.”

      “How did this happen? Do you know where he was taken?” Brianna’s voice trembled slightly, and again Troy had the ridiculous desire to pull her into his arms and assure her that everything was going to be fine.

      “Apparently somebody was waiting for him when he stepped out of the house this morning. You know your father, the first thing he does after getting dressed and ready for work is walk out to get the morning paper. That’s when it must have happened because his car is still in the garage.” A sob escaped Heather and she stared at Troy as if he might somehow have the answers to make this all go away. “What do we do now?”

      Brianna looked at him, her big blue eyes holding the same appeal as Heather’s.

      “I need to make some phone calls,” he said as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “I want to call my two partners and let them know what’s happening, and then I think we need to call Chief Wendall Kincaid of the police department.” He hadn’t wanted to involve his partners until he’d checked out the situation with Brandon’s wife.

      Heather shot up from her chair. “No! You can’t do that. They said they’d kill him if we contacted the police.”

      Brianna’s eyes grew bigger as she continued to stare at Troy, and he wondered how on earth he’d gotten himself into a position to make such a weighty decision. “We’ll give it a couple of hours,” he finally said. “We’ll see if the kidnapper calls back with a ransom demand. But call or no call, my personal opinion is that it’s best to contact the police.”

      “He’s my husband,” Heather exclaimed. “And I don’t want to do anything to put his life in jeopardy.”

      “It’s already in jeopardy,” Brianna said softly. “So there’s nothing we can do right now but wait for the phone to ring.”

      Troy nodded and stood. “And in the meantime, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make my phone calls.” He walked back to the front door and stepped outside to call both Micah and Lucas to let them know what was going on.

      If Heather didn’t want him to contact the police, then having his partners here was the next best thing. Micah and Lucas could remain here with Heather while he got Brianna settled in the safe house.

      Just because Brandon was missing at the moment didn’t mean that Troy meant to shirk his duty. Brandon had wanted his daughter under wraps at least until after the Wednesday night meeting, and that’s exactly what Troy intended to do.

      He was still standing on the porch when Lucas pulled up in his black pickup truck. He had just reached the front porch when Micah roared into the circular driveway and parked his car behind the truck.

      Troy quickly filled the two in on what he knew and that Heather was adamantly against calling the police. “Why don’t I knock on some doors and see if anyone noticed any suspicious cars or trucks in the area this morning?” Micah suggested.

      Troy nodded. “Sounds like a plan. And Lucas, I’d like you to stay with Heather later while I take Brianna to the safe house. I’m hoping a ransom call happens before the night is over. Then we can decide what the next plan of action should be.”

      The next couple of hours crawled by. Heather’s sister arrived and took the distraught Heather upstairs to her bedroom. Micah made the rounds of the neighbors but nobody had seen anything unusual that morning. They waited for the phone to ring as the tension in the air crackled.

      Brianna sat curled up on a love seat, looking lost and alone. Her eyes held the torment of her thoughts, and Troy could easily imagine how horrifying those thoughts might be.

      By seven o’clock Troy realized there was no point in all of them sitting around waiting for something that might not happen. “Brianna, I want to get you settled in the safe house for the night. Lucas and Micah will let us know if anything happens here, but it’s my gut instinct that nothing is going to happen for the remainder of the night.”

      For the first time in the past couple of hours, emotion played on her face as she lifted her chin with stubborn defiance. “I’m not going anywhere.”

      “That was one of the conditions of me bringing you back here,” he replied.

      “I’m changing the condition.”

      Troy swallowed a sigh of impatience. He’d hoped she’d be reasonable, but apparently that wasn’t going to be the case.

      “Brianna, your father wanted you someplace safe for a couple of days,” he protested. “He didn’t want you here in the house, or he would never have hired me to take you off someplace.”

      She frowned, her eyes radiating pain. “Well, Dad’s not here now. Besides, he was afraid somebody might be after me to get to him. They got him.” Her voice rose slightly. “They don’t need to get me now.”

      Troy sighed in frustration. He didn’t know that the danger to her was over. He couldn’t know for sure that the attack she’d suffered in California had been somebody’s attempt to hurt Brandon. “I promised your father that I’d keep you safe,” he said.

      “I am safe. I’m in my own home.” She stood abruptly. “You don’t have to worry about me. In fact, I’m going to my room and later I’ll just go to bed.” She moved across the room with a restless energy that was palpable. “It was nice seeing you again, Troy, but your services as a bodyguard are no longer needed.”

      With these words she left the room.

      BRIANNA OPENED her bedroom door and cocked her head to listen. The muted sound of a television was the only noise. It was after midnight and she assumed one of Troy’s partners was watching the tube or sleeping in front of it.

      The phone hadn’t rung throughout the long hours of the night, but the fear inside her had grown to such proportions she could hardly stand it.

      Where was her father? Was he still alive? She didn’t know what she’d do if something happened to him. She eased the bedroom door open and took a step into the hallway.

      She’d never been the kind of woman to sit passively by and do nothing. Despite the fact that she’d told Troy she intended to go to bed, she had to do something or she’d go mad.

      Troy. Even though they’d been at odds for much of their time together, there had been several times during the course of the evening when she’d wanted to launch herself into his strong arms. She’d wanted him to wrap her up in an embrace so tight she could hear his heart beating with hers, smell his cologne that, in the space of such a short time, had become oddly familiar and comforting.

      She’d seen his sports car pull away a couple of hours ago. She’d noticed only a pickup was left in the driveway.

      Instead of heading toward the grand staircase that led down to the foyer, Brianna went the opposite direction to a back, narrow set of stairs that took her to the kitchen. From there she could leave the house and go to the four-car garage in back. Nobody would know she’d left, and she’d be back before morning.

      She held her breath as she walked down the stairs, praying that one didn’t creak loud enough to stir anyone’s interest. СКАЧАТЬ